Optimized Systems Software: Difference between revisions

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'''Optimized Systems Software''' ('''OSS''') was a company that produced [[disk operating system]]s, [[programming language]]s with integrated development environments, and applications primarily for the [[Atari 8-bit familycomputers]]. ofThe homefounders computers.of OSS waspreviously bestdeveloped known[[Atari forDOS]], their[[Atari enhancedBASIC]], versionsand ofthe [[Atari DOSAssembler Editor]] (for [[Atari, Inc.]], and many OSS products are substantially improved versions. {{nowrap|OS A+,}} thenand [[DOS XL),]] are based on [[Atari BASIC]]DOS. (first [[BASIC A+]], then BASIC XL, and BASIC XE), andare thebased on [[Atari AssemblerBASIC. Editor]] (EASMD, thenand [[MAC/65]]), allare ofmodeled whichon were substantially improved overthe [[Atari's products,Assembler as well as theEditor]]. [[Action! (programming language)|Action!]] is an [[ALGOL]]-inspired compiled programming language with an integrated full-screen editor. OSS also sold some software for the [[Apple II series|Apple II]].<ref name=finest/>

OSS transitioned to 16-bit platforms with Personal Pascal for the [[Atari ST]] with Personal Pascal<ref name=ppmanual>{{cite web|title=Personal Pascal for the Atari ST Manual|url=https://archive.org/details/OSSPersonalPascal|website=archive.org}}</ref> and Personal Prolog forthe [[Mac (computer)|MacintoshMac]] with Personal Prolog (which was also advertised for the Atari ST, but may not have been released). OSS was not as significant in those markets. The company merged with ICD in 1988.

== History ==

Optimized Systems Software was formed in early 1981 by Bill Wilkinson, Mike Peters, Paul Laughton, and Kathleen O'Brien.<ref name="savetz">{{cite web |last1=Savetz |first1=Kevin |title=Paul Laughton Interview |url=http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-the-atari-8-bit-podcast-paul-laughton-interview |website=ANTIC: The Atari 8-Bit Podcast |date=October 21, 2014}}</ref> Laughton, the primary author of [[Atari BASIC]], was still employed by Atari, Inc. at the time, and had permission to be involved with OSS from his manager. O'Brien wrote the [[Atari Assembler Editor]] for Atari. Laughton and O'Brien (married) were not as involved with the company and were bought out by Peters and Wilkinson.

OSS purchased [[Atari BASIC]], [[Atari DOS]], and the [[Atari Assembler Editor]] products from [[Shepardson Microsystems]] who had concluded that their versions of BASIC and DOS products were not viable.{{Citation needed |date=April 2024}} The new company enhanced the programs, renaming them OS/A+ (the Disk Operating System), BASIC A+ (a disk-based language), and EASMD (an update to the Assembler Editor). OSS continued to work with [[Atari, Inc.]] (who had previously contracted with SMI) on enhanced products, most of which never reached the market.

OSS debuted at the [[West Coast Computer Faire]] in March 1981. The products they released over the next several years became respected among Atari programmers, particularly the [[MAC/65]] assembler, the [[Action! (programming language)|Action!]] programming language, and BASIC XL. In a 1984 interview, Bill Wilkinson said the company consisted of 15 people.<ref name="ellison">{{cite journal |last1=Ellison |first1=Peter |title=Bill Wilkinson Interview |journal=ROM |date=August 1984 |volume=1 |issue=7 |page=13 |url=https://archive.org/details/ROM_Magazine_v1i7/page/n12}}</ref>

In January 1988, OSS merged with ICD (the makers of [[SpartaDOS]] and various Atari computer hardware add-ons). In 1994, [[Fine Tooned Engineering]] obtained limited rights to ICD's 8-bit products before disappearing.

==Disk Operating Systems==

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Atari ''DOS 2.0S'' consisted of two portions, a memory-resident portion that facilitated access to disk files by programs, and a disk-resident portion providing menu-driven utilities to format, copy, delete, rename, and otherwise manipulate files on Atari's 810 disk drive. The menu system was too large to keep memory-resident, but the necessity to reload the menu system after every program was frustrating to many users.

* ''OS/A+ 2.0, 2.1'' was a disk-based replacement for the Atari DOS and the Apple II DOS. It replaced the menu-driven utilities with a compact command line approach similar to [[CP/M]] (and later, [[MS-DOS]]). The command line was small enough to remain in memory with most applications, removing the need for the dreaded post-program reload. When first introduced at the West Coast Computer Faire, the program was named CP/A, but a lawyer from [[Digital Research]] (owners of CP/M) visited the booth and the name was changed. OSS couldn't have afforded even a court filing fee.

* ''OS/A+ 4.1'' OSS extended the successful OS/A+ product with additional capabilities for version 4, many of which were arguably ahead of their time. For example, the strict "8.3" naming scheme (eight alphanumeric characters with a three character extension) was replaced by "long" filenames, similar to the Microsoft DOS transition to [[File Allocation Table|VFAT]] in 1995.

However, unlike VFAT, ''OS/A+ 4.1'' disks were not [[backward compatible]] with earlier systems; Atari DOS or ''OS/A+ 2.1'' could not read disks formatted by ''OS/A+ 4.1'', breaking backward compatibility. The [[memory footprint]] was larger as well, resulting in insufficient memory to run some popular applications. As a result of these drawbacks, ''OS/A+ 4.1'' did not achieve the market penetration as the earlier product. OSS did reissue ''OS/A+ 4.1'' for a brief period when they decided not to modify ''DOS XL'' for double-sided disk support.

=== DOS XL ===

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BASIC XL is a bank-selected cartridge version of the language that replaced BASIC A+. It fixes bugs and has even more features. The '''BASIC XL Toolkit''' contains additional code and examples for use with the BASIC XL and a runtime package for redistribution.

A significant change in BASIC XL is the handling of line number lookups in [[GOTO]]/[[GOSUB]] and FOR...NEXT loops. In Atari BASIC, any GOTO searches the entire program for the provided line number, and FOR...NEXT loops use the same code. [[Microsoft BASIC]] simply jumps to a FOR statement via its address. The BASIC XL FAST command replaces constant targets of GOTO/GOSUB/NEXT with addresses. This gives a huge performance boost, making loops run as fast as Microsoft BASIC, and the program as a whole even faster. The downside is that an address becomes invalid if the program is edited during runtime, preventing it from being CONTinued, unlike Atari BASIC which generally allows this after any edit.

''[[Antic (magazine)|Antic]]'' in 1984 stated that "BASIC XL is the fastest and most powerful version of BASIC available for Atari computers", with "exceptional" documentation. The magazine concluded that "This is the language that should be built into Atari computers. Is anyone at Atari listening?"<ref name="antic198403">{{Cite magazine |last=White |first=Jerry |date=March 1984 |title=Product Reviews |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n12/productreviews.html |magazine=Antic}}</ref>

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{{Main|MAC/65}}

MAC/65 is a [[MOS Technology 6502|6502]] editor and [[assembly language#Assembler|assembler]] originally released on disk in 1982, then on a bank-switched "supercartridge" in 1983 which includes an integrated debugger (DDT). Like [[Atari BASIC]], MAC/65 uses line-numbered [[source code]] and tokenizes each line as it is entered. It is significantly faster than Atari's assemblers. The '''MAC/65 Toolkit''' disk contains additional code and examples.

=== BUG/65 ===

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{{Main|Action! (programming language)}}

A cartridge-based development system for a readable [[ALGOL]]-like language that compiles to efficient [[MOS Technology 6502|6502]] code. [[Action! (programming language)|Action!]] combines a full-screen editor with a compiler that generates code directly to memory without involving disk access. The language found a niche for being over a hundred times faster than [[Atari BASIC]],<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Moriarty|first1=Brian|title=A New Langue for the Atari!|journal=ANALOG Computing|date=1984|url=http://www.cyberroach.com/analog/an16/action.htm|access-date=2015-08-01|archive-date=2017-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627190315/http://www.cyberroach.com/analog/an16/action.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> but much easier to program in than [[assembly language]]. Compiled Action! programs require the cartridge to be present, because standard [[Library (computing)|library]] functions are on the cartridge. The separately available '''Action! Run-Time Package''' overcomes this limitation and allows distribution of Action!-compiled projects.

The '''Action! Toolkit''' (originally called the Programmer's Aid Disk, or PAD) contains additional code and examples for use with the Action! language.

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=== Personal Pascal ===

A one-pass, [[machine code]] generating compiler for the [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]] language developed by J. Lohse for the Atari ST and released by OSS in 1987.<ref name=ppmanual/> It came with a 500+ page manual.

==Applications==

=== The Writer's Tool ===

A word processing application available in a bank-selected cartridge and a double-sided disk (master disk on one side, dictionary disk on the other side).<ref name="wt-antic">{{cite journal|last1=Rainbow|first1=Tom|title=8-bit Product Reviews: Writer's Tool|journal=Antic|date=March 1985|volume=3|issue=11|url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/v3n11/reviews.html}}</ref> It was developed by Madison Micro and published by OSS in 1984.<ref name="wt_manual">{{cite book|title=The Writer's Tool Manual|date=1984|publisher=Optimized Systems Software, Inc.|url=http://www.atarimania.com/8bit/manuals/The_Writers_Tool_manual.pdf|archive-date=2016-02-09|access-date=2016-04-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209103325/http://www.atarimania.com/8bit/manuals/The_Writers_Tool_manual.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to Bill Wilkinson, OSS was already building a word processor, but stopped when ''The Writer's Tool'' was submitted.<ref>{{cite web|title=Interview 7: Bill Wilkinson|url=http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-7-the-atari-8-bit-podcast-bill-wilkinson-oss|website=ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast}}</ref>

=== SpeedRead+ ===

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[[Category:Optimized Systems Software| ]]

[[Category:Defunct software companies of the United States]]

[[Category:Atari 8-bit familycomputers]]

[[Category:Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area]]

[[Category:Companies based in Cupertino, California]]